Winter Vampire
by Thyra10
Summary: Vampires are not out of the coffin. Eric is "home", but misses the American celebration of Halloween. All is better when he meets a telepath on a candlelit graveyard. My entry for Eric and His Great Pumpkin One-shot Contest. AU. Rated M. EPOV.


**Winter Vampire**

**A/N:**

**Eric and His Great Pumpkin One-shot Contest**

**Title: **Winter Vampire

**Your Pen name: **Thyra10

**Characters: **Eric and Sookie. Pam, Felipe de Castro and Gran are mentioned

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any characters or anything else related to the Southern Vampire mysteries. I only brought them home with me to play.

**Beta**: I would like to thank both **Rascalthemutant** and **Suki59** for all the great help they gave me in making this story better. Between them they improved both the beginning, the end and everything in between :-D

**Story**: Eric is a vampire and Sookie a telepath, but vampires are not out of the coffin in this tale. Lust, love and dry humor.

* * *

**Winter Vampire**

I heard her before I saw her. It was dark apart from all the candles on the graves and she was crying at the other end of the graveyard.

I saw her before I smelled her, but when I smelled her, I knew I had to have her. Maybe Halloween wouldn`t be such a disappointment after all.

I sat completely still on a gravestone behind her, hearing her sobs and how she talked to the person buried in the grave where she was sitting. I looked at the gravestone and made a mental note of the name and dates of the person for whom she was crying. It was an Adele Stackhouse and she had been in her late seventies when she died last year. Actually last year to the date.

"I miss you so much, Gran," she whispered and made a motion to get up from her position sitting on her knees. Her body temperature was low which indicated she had been sitting there for some time and the snow had made her black pants wet from the knees down.

I quickly debated with myself if I was going to glamor her now or wait until later. I would have to glamor her at some point, of course. I couldn`t have her running around screaming, "Vampire, vampire." Mind you, she wouldn`t have been the first (some vampires are sloppy), but people claiming to have seen vampires were usually committed to some kind of asylum. The general population didn`t believe in vampires, just as they didn`t believe in witches or werewolves. Silly, ignorant humans.

Looking more closely at her, I decided I would glamor her later. Call me vain, but I do like when a girl actually chooses me and not just follows me because I`ve glamored her. And this girl looked like a challenge. She was a beautiful "girl next door" kind of girl and obviously in mourning. She wouldn`t be easy to win over, but the gratification would be so much better. I wanted to put a smile on her sad face. Of course I wanted to put a smile on my face too, but there`s no harm in hitting two birds with the same stone, right?

Halloween had been a pitiful affair up until now. I had been away from my birth country for too long and had been so accustomed to the American way of celebrating Halloween that it had taken me by surprise that I was the only adult who was dressed up.

It didn`t make things any better that Norwegian bureaucracy had prevented me from buying, or even renting, a suitable car. I had to fly and sometimes even walk, for crying out loud. I walked around in this sorry excuse for a town as the only one in a cape and a bow tie.

Halloween was my favorite day back in Louisiana because it was the only day I could walk around, fangs down, and still get admiring stares and women's hearts racing. Not here in Norway. As the only one in a costume, and it was a grand vampire costume I dare say, I only had people giggling or even outright laughing.

Oh, Norwegians were a humorous people indeed, pointing fingers at me and asking me if I was looking for the nearest blood bank or if I wanted garlic bread. Some made mock crosses with their fingers while winking at me. All in good fun, of course. I could have killed them all.

The weather was just as cold and the snow just as wet as when I lived here as a human. And even though vampires aren`t affected by temperatures and weather, having wet feet wasn`t exactly helping this vampire`s sour mood.

Of course celebrating Halloween wasn`t the main reason I came "home" this year. The long winter`s nights were what made me come here. Just like the humans going to Florida to have sun in the winter, I came to Norway to have darkness.

I had enjoyed the nights getting longer and longer, but Halloween here almost made me jump on the first plane back to the parties in Louisiana.

Coming to this graveyard had helped matters a little. Apparently they still celebrated the _Allehelgens_, the Norwegian version of Halloween. There was no dressing up and partying, but people lighting candles on the graveyard and mourning over lost loved ones. The concept was morbid enough for me to love it.

And seeing her on her knees in front of a grave, of course, made me change my view of Halloween here all together. When she lost her balance a little getting up, I was there with my hand. She gasped in surprise.

"How long have you been here?" she asked with a little accusation to her voice.

"Long enough to see that you shouldn`t be alone. You are in pain."

"Of course I`m in pain. This is a graveyard. People don`t come here to go dancing." She pulled her hand away from mine. I could think of many creatures who would actually use a graveyard as a disco of sorts, but I figured that wasn`t what she needed to hear right now. No one wants to know that their grandmother`s grave is used as a dance floor.

She looked up at me and then she really looked at me. Her angry face turned into first one of incomprehension and then she started smiling. I could hear how she fought a giggle.

"Are you going tricking or treating?" she said and her fight against her giggle was lost. I smiled, not because I enjoyed being laughed at, but this was a step in the right direction.

"Sure. Trick or treat," I answered.

"I`m sorry, I don`t have any treats." She shook her head. "And I`m not really in the mood for any tricks either."

I knew it would be counterproductive to mention that she had all the treats I needed coursing in her veins, not to mention the hot sex I was planning on having with her.

"I can see that. So let me show you my best trick to relieve you of some of your pain." I stepped forward and she moved her foot to take one step backwards, only she didn`t.

"Okay. What is your trick?" She gave me a skeptical stare.

I stepped closer to her and took her in my arms. "It`s called a hug," I whispered into her hair.

She relaxed in my arms and my hand moved up and down her back, always careful not to go too far down even if her butt was a magnet screaming for attention. She sobbed slightly and I knew my shirt would be a goner. Women usually wear mascara these days and wet mascara on a white shirt is not a good combination. I soothed her by holding her tighter and whispering, "shhhh," into her hair.

Suddenly she stiffened and pulled back. She looked into my eyes.

"What are you?" she said.

That made me stiffen. Did she know my true nature?

"What do you mean?" I answered innocently. "I`m a bar owner currently living in Louisiana, but back home on vacation." I hoped it was my accent that had her ask. My Norwegian wasn`t exactly the 2009-version.

"No, what are you? I can`t hear you."

Was she going deaf on me? "You can`t hear me?" I asked. My question made her blush and she looked down.

"IcanreadmindsbutIcan`thearyours," she said quickly, but I heard her. Vampire hearing comes in handy sometimes.

"You can read minds and you can`t hear mine?" I was beginning to bore myself with my repeating her questions.

"Yes," she said in a thin voice, her eyes searching mine, apparently insecure of my reaction to her revelation. She bit her lower lip.

"Why?" I asked even though I knew why. I just wondered how much she knew.

"I don`t know. I have always been able to read people`s minds." She looked away. "But I like not knowing what you are thinking."

She sighed and I took that as an invitation to hold her again. I would have preferred that she didn`t know about my "otherness" until a later stage (or never, depending on how aroused I could get her before biting her), but I figured I could always glamor her if she caused any trouble.

After some minutes of her leaning into me and my comforting her, she started to shiver. I had no warmth to offer her since my body temperature was pretty much the same as any of the corpses buried under our feet so I started rubbing her arms and back in the hope that friction would warm her a bit. It didn`t.

"I need to go home," she said. Without asking, I took her hand and followed her. She didn`t argue.

When we came to the door to her house, she looked up into my face. I could see her struggle with herself and gave her time to come to a conclusion. Finally she spoke.

"Would you like a cup of coffee? Or are you going somewhere?" She bit her lip again.

"I don`t drink coffee," I started to say and smiled when I saw her disappointment. "But I would love to come inside for some warmth. It certainly is cold outside." I pretended to shiver.

She unlocked her door and stepped inside. To get humans to invite you inside was always the tricky part, so I almost kissed her when she said, "Welcome to my humble home, silent stranger." I quickly stepped over the threshold.

"I don`t even know your name." She almost looked embarrassed.

I held out my hand and she took it.

"I`m Eric Northman. It`s an honor to make your acquaintance." I bowed slightly.

"Charmed, I`m sure. I`m Sookie Stackhouse."

I took off my cape and gloves and Sookie took off her coat, mittens and pulled off her boots, which made me kick off my shoes too. I remembered that it was considered impolite to walk into people`s houses with shoes on around here. It was frowned upon even back in my day and things apparently hadn`t changed that much. I could understand why, considering the state of the shoes after a night out in the snow. Even my socks were wet, so I pulled them off.

She took my hand and started pulling me towards the living room, but then she looked at it and shivered.

"Your hands are like ice. Come in here and I`ll light a fire in the fireplace. Are you sure you don`t want some hot coffee?" I shook my head. "Some tea, maybe? Or cocoa?" I shook my head again and smiled.

She went to her bedroom. I caught a glimpse of the bed through the open door and already looked forward to our lying in it. I saw how she struggled to pull out a huge and ugly quilt from one of her drawers. She came back to the living room, grabbed my legs and pulled them up on the couch and then draped my body in the quilt. She even tucked it around my feet. It was completely unnecessary, of course, but I found I liked her fussing over me, trying to make me feel comfortable.

She made a fire in the fireplace and when it was burning, she stood up and looked at me. The quilt had dropped down to my waist and my white shirt and black bow tie were visible.

"So who were you dressed up as?" She looked at me. "Are you supposed to be Count Dracula?" I nodded and winked at her.

She came over to me, sat down on her knees next to the couch, and before I realized what she was doing, she had her hand on my chin and her thumb ran over my lips.

"So where are the fangs?"

Her touching my teeth and mentioning fangs was enough for them to come down with a plop. She dropped backwards in surprise and I knew I would have to glamor her now. I had hoped to be able to wait until later because I really wanted this woman, Sookie, unglamored in bed.

She sat there staring at me when I sent out my spell. I thought she was well glamored, when she suddenly spoke.

"What did you do just now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I felt a strong power trying to work on my brain. Did it come from you?"

Now she had me staring. I had never met a person I couldn`t glamor. I knew this was trouble. Of course, I could always just kill her and dump her body. It`s not like I`ve never killed before. But for some reason, I just didn`t want to kill Sookie. So I opted for honesty instead, hoping she could handle it.

"I tried to glamor you into forgetting you saw my fangs," I explained. "Apparently glamor doesn`t work on you, which is a first for me."

"Glamor?" she asked.

"Glamor is a kind of hypnosis. It works on all humans. Well, all humans except you."

"So you are a…?"

"I`m a vampire, Sookie." I figured she would run away screaming and braced myself for jumping her and keeping her quiet. Instead she came back to sit next to the couch and carefully touched my chin again.

"Do you mind?" she asked, looking deeply into my eyes.

"No." I said hoarsely. How could I ever mind her touching my fangs?

Her thumb brushed my lips lightly and I opened my mouth, my fangs at full attention. I moaned slightly when I felt her finger running down first one fang and then the other. I closed my mouth and started sucking on her thumb.

My hands were on her back and neck and I pulled her to me, replacing her thumb with her mouth. At first she had her luscious lips closed, but when I licked them, she opened up and my tongue darted into her sweet mouth. She was kissing me even when she knew I was a vampire?

Not only was she kissing me, she was kissing me deeply and soon her tongue was sliding over my teeth and down my fangs. It made me groan and I pulled her up on top of me on the couch. My hands were all over her perfect body, her full breasts, her round butt, her soft thighs. I grabbed her hips and ground my lower body into her.

I couldn`t get enough and wanted to rip off her clothes and take her then and there when she pulled back.

She gasped for air and sat up straddling my hips, looking down at me.

"So you are really a vampire?" she said, her hands on my chest. I waited for questions about coffins, garlic and silver, but they never came. Then she bent down and put her mouth to my ear.

"I can`t tell you how peaceful it is not to be able to hear what you are thinking." Her whisper made me shiver and this time it wasn`t pretend.

I started to kiss her neck and suck on her earlobe and was rewarded with a sigh in my ear. Then she sat up again and looked at me. She let her fingers glide over my cheek, down my chest and then her hand grabbed mine.

She got up, still holding my hand, and pulled me up to her. I let the quilt drop to my feet and followed her lead towards the bedroom. She sat down on her bed and pulled me down next to her. When I tried to kiss her, she stopped me.

"I`m afraid to disappoint you because I don`t know much about sex." She looked uncomfortable.

I pulled her close.

"You can only disappoint me if you don`t want to have sex with me, Sookie," I whispered and let my hand slide under her blouse.

"Oh, I want to."

She pulled at my bowtie and started unbuttoning my shirt. I could feel her frustration when she couldn`t work the tiny buttons so I ripped my shirt open. She gasped and pulled away a bit.

"Don`t worry, Sookie," I said and let her blouse slide over her head. My hand cupped her breasts and her fingers tentatively touched my chest. Soon they moved to my shoulder and pulled my shirt down my arms, and I had to let her breasts go.

Before my hands could find their way back, she had opened her bra and slipped it off. I growled in appreciation and bent down to take one breast in my mouth and then the other.

She started to open my pants and when she had as much trouble with my pants as she had had with my shirt, she looked me in the eye and smiled. "Don`t ruin your pants as well. I`ll manage this." And she did manage. She stood up and pulled at the legs of my pants until I was only in my red briefs.

She looked at them and giggled. "Are those official Dracula underwear?"

"If I were 986 years younger, I would have chosen the ones with `Dracula` on the elastic band to make the logo visible over my sagging pants," I deadpanned. I had seen many a silly fashion come and go, but guys wearing their pants under their butts, was just ridiculous.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"A thousand years, give or take," I smiled. "I haven`t exactly had a birthday cake with the correct number of candles every year so it`s hard to keep track. But I used to be what is referred to today as a Viking."

She almost jumped. "A Viking?!? Oh, I want to hear all about it!" She looked like a little girl who had had just realized that the pink bike was indeed under the Christmas tree.

I leaned over. "You want a full four hour lecture now or can it wait?" I whispered in her ear, kissing her earlobe.

"Oh, I guess it can wait."

I soon had her down on her back in the middle of the bed and her pants and panties on the floor. My "Dracula underwear" went the same way.

She was a vision lying there in her bed and her smell was so sweet and strong now that she didn`t have her clothes on. It took all my strength to hold back, but I did. I wanted this to be a night to remember –for me, but surprisingly enough, also for her.

Sookie had her eyes on my Gracious Plenty and I didn`t have to be a mind-reader to see that the size of it scared her slightly. I had had that reaction for almost a millennium.

"Don`t worry, Sookie," I whispered again when I lay next to her.

I kissed her while letting my hand slide down her stomach and between her legs. She opened them wider and I let one finger slip inside. I was just about to let my thumb work its miracles on the outside when Sookie stiffened and I felt something I hadn`t felt in a long time.

"I`m your first?" I asked in surprise. Sookie was sweet, beautiful and well into her twenties and in this day and age, I would never have expected her to be a virgin.

"It`s not easy to be physical with someone whose mind you can read." She looked me in the eye as I removed my finger. It had the most wonderful smell of blood and I couldn`t help licking it.

I wanted more of that sweet taste, but I also wanted Sookie to be able to enjoy what I had in store for her so I let my mouth travel to where my hand had just been. I started licking her and sucking her and making her writhe in pleasure. Then I inserted my finger again, this time very carefully, and moved it in and out while making sure her hymen wouldn`t cause her pain later.

She was moaning and her breathing became shallower, and I desperately wanted to taste that lovely vein in her thigh. I`m not sure what held me back, but I didn`t bite her. It felt a little like coitus interruptus, but it felt right somehow too.

Suddenly her orgasm washed over her and the look of her coming almost made me come too.

I gave her a few minutes while kissing her soft body from her thighs up to her mouth. The look in her eyes was a huge turn-on. They were all glazed over with pleasure.

She looked up at me and smiled a little smile. Then she pulled her legs up slightly.

"Now," she whispered and I situated myself at her entrance and slowly moved myself into her. She pulled her legs higher and had her thighs at my waist. When I was all the way in she gave me a moan of pleasure and I took that as a sign that I could move a little faster in and out. Soon we were in a rhythm that pulled me closer to the edge with each push.

Suddenly Sookie made a move with her hands on my back and her feet on my butt to make me stop. She had her fingers in my hair and her blue eyes on mine.

"Do you want to drink my blood, Eric?" she asked and I almost came just from the question.

"Oh, yes." My voice was hoarse.

"Can you drink from me without draining me?"

"I`m old, Sookie. I don`t need much."

She made the most wonderful movement with her head, exposing her neck to me. She also pulled her legs even higher and I started moving faster accompanied by her lovely moans. I kissed and licked her neck and just as she was getting close to her release, I bit down feeling her orgasm wash through her body and after a couple of pulls on her vein, I followed suit.

I`m not sure why, but it was the strongest orgasm I had had in years and I almost forgot to lick the wounds on her neck closed before I crashed down next to her.

We both had little shivers going through our bodies. After a moment, I lifted my head and looked at the beautiful creature next to me.

"Are you okay?"

She smiled. "I have had the most wonderful, no two wonderful orgasms and you ask me if I`m okay?" She got serious. "I know I`m inexperienced, but was it still okay for you?" She apparently bit her lip whenever she was nervous because now she did it again.

I pulled her to lie on my chest.

"It was better than okay, lover. There was just one thing wrong with your lovemaking," I said, while keeping a straight face. She bit her lip even harder. "It made me want to fuck you until the sun comes up."

And I did.

Xxxx

I woke up the next evening in my own home. I had left Sookie in a deep sleep just in time for me to head back before the sun gave me a tan I would never forget.

My first thought when I opened my eyes was to get back to Sookie. I had not survived over a thousand years by making poor choices. I knew that seeking out a woman who knew my true identity, a woman I couldn`t glamor, when she had had time to call the police, was dangerous. Still, after a shower and dressing quickly, I was on her doorstep.

I rang her doorbell and heard a muffled, "Come in."

Sookie was lying on her couch with that ugly quilt over her legs. She didn`t get up when I came in, but she still seemed happy to see me. Happy and surprised.

"Eric," was all she said, but I liked the way she said it, her voice full of joy, anticipation and even lust.

I went to sit behind her, but when I pulled her towards me, she made a little sound of pain.

"What`s wrong, lover?" I asked and then it dawned on me. She was a virgin and I had fucked her three, no four times last night. I just couldn`t get enough of her and now she was paying the price.

I bit my wrist and pulled her up in my lap.

"Drink, lover. My blood will heal you."

She turned her head back to look at me.

"I can`t drink your blood."

"Of course you can. It`ll make you feel better. Trust me."

"Trust you? Because you are my friendly neighborhood vampire?"

"Exactly. Think of me as your post coital repair-kit. Vampire blood will work miracles."

"Will it…" She trailed off. "Will it make me a vampire?"

I kissed the base of her neck. "No, I`ll be careful that you don`t take too much."

My wrist had healed so I bit down again and moved it towards her mouth. This time she started sucking and she sucked so hard I almost came from her first pull. I couldn`t help moaning and I grabbed her around her waist and started grinding my length into her sweet butt. On her fourth pull, I came hard, getting my pants soaking wet. She pulled one more time, giving me aftershocks.

She turned around and faced me.

"So vampires enjoy giving blood as much as taking it?" she asked.

"No, Sookie. Vampires very rarely give blood to anybody."

She became quiet, but I could almost hear the little neurons in her brain working overtime. She made some moves with her lower body.

"Thank you for the blood, Eric. I am all healed. It`s amazing."

I grabbed her butt and ground a Gracious Plenty that was just waking up for some more fun into her.

"Are you sure you are all healed? Maybe we should check just to be on the safe side?"

We did. Several times.

Xxxxx

Sookie and I spent almost every night together all winter. What started out as a purely sexual relationship turned into something else and more. Sookie was sweet and loyal and had the same zest for life that I did and I believe she felt I "got her." Of course it was to my advantage that she couldn`t hear any of my thoughts. I suppose that was what attracted her to me in the first place.

I never sought other women that winter. Not for sex and not even for blood. I craved very little blood and when I felt Sookie`s blood level was down, I sneaked into the local blood bank and helped myself to a few bags.

I had never trusted a human like I trusted her and we also had a companionship that was new to me. Everything was obviously new to Sookie as well, but we managed to adjust to our different natures.

That is, up until the snow started to melt. I knew I could not spend the summer in "The Land of the Midnight Sun." I would be asleep for two months and that was not something I longed for.

Sookie, on the other hand, was nervous about burning her bridges and following me to a place where she would meet more vampires. I tried my best to convince her that I would keep her safe, but she still said no.

I was one unhappy and angry vampire and I must admit that the furniture in my house suffered from my frustration. In March I gave up on making her change her mind and decided I would rather enjoy our last weeks together.

I had had her blood often enough to be able to feel what she felt and it was sadness, but also insecurity.

"I will come back to you, Sookie." She looked up and I could feel a little hope running through her which made me smile. "I promise I will come back before Halloween."

We kissed and made love like only Sookie and I could. I had never made love to a woman who knew my nature, a woman I knew I couldn`t glamor and Sookie had never made love, period. Sookie had never met anyone she could talk to without knowing all their thoughts and I had never met a human I wanted to talk to, period. We were an odd couple, but we fit well. The Beauty and the Beast.

It was a sad time when I said my goodbyes, but I had to. All summer I subconsciously counted the nights until I could go back to Sookie, but in August I was caught up in some vampire politics that took all my time and I had a hard time wrapping it up. August and September went and when October came, I started to panic slightly. I didn`t want to deal with all this crap. I wanted to lie in the arms of my sweet lover.

I was frustrated and took it out on everyone close to me. I even came close to telling King de Castro that capes were so 16th century. He should get over his birthplace and time. I mean, it`s not like I walk around in fur and a helmet – not in public, anyway.

I never told my child Pam why I was getting so antsy, but she knew. And she couldn`t stop making little remarks on the subject, comparing me to the plaid-clothed human "snow birds" traveling to Florida every winter. She even went so far as to buy me a walker and some adult diapers. Pam, the eternal joker.

The calendar said October 31st when I landed in my birth country again. Unfortunately it was almost day when I came to Sookie`s hometown and all I could do was to go to my house and sleep like the dead.

I had promised Sookie I would be back before Halloween so the minute the sun was down I got up and got dressed. I ran out of my house and in vampire speed, I was at Sookie`s door, knocking. Nothing. I knocked again. Nothing.

I listened closely, but there were no sounds coming from her house. She wasn`t home.

All the frustrations of the last months came washing back over me and I growled deeply. I wanted my Sookie now.

Then I remembered where I had met her the first time and I flew to the graveyard. Hope was a butterfly deep in my stomach when I rounded the corner of the church and it flew up into my chest when I saw her at her grandmother`s grave.

"I miss him so much, Gran," she said and tears rolled down her cheeks. Suddenly she turned around, having probably felt me through her blood.

"Eric!" She jumped up and ran towards me. Then she hesitated. "You are late?"

I pulled her into my arms and swung her around.

"I said I would be back before Halloween, my love."

"No Dracula costume tonight?"

"Tonight I`m just your friendly neighborhood vampire asking for trick or treat."

She gave me a deep kiss. "Can I have a treat too?"

I almost took her on her grandmother`s grave. This was, after all, the first time I had gone without sex for six months in my entire adult existence. But I had the decency to bring her home first.

This time I stayed in her home all winter, even at daytime. And I was determined to keep us together through summer too somehow. I didn`t want to be just her winter vampire.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked this little tale of two people who fell in lust and then in love.


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